Only Girl

by Robin Green

A raucous and vividly dishy memoir by the only woman writer on the masthead of Rolling Stone Magazine in the early Seventies.
In 1971, Robin Green had an interview with Jann Wenner at the offices Rolling Stone magazine. She had just moved to Berkeley, California, a city that promised "Good Vibes All-a Time." Those days, job applications asked just one question, "What are your sun, moon and rising signs?" Green thought she was interviewing for a clerical job like the other girls in the office, a "real job." Instead, she was hired as a journalist.

With irreverent humor and remarkable nerve, Green spills stories of sparring with Dennis Hopper on a film junket in the desert, scandalizing fans of David Cassidy and spending a legendary evening on a water bed in Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s dorm room. In the seventies, Green was there as Hunter S. Thompson crafted Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and now, with a distinctly gonzo female voice, she reveals her side of that tumultuous time in America.

Brutally honest and bold, Green reveals what it was like to be the first woman granted entry into an iconic boys' club. Pulling back the curtain on Rolling Stone magazine in its prime, The Only Girl is a stunning tribute to a bygone era and a publication that defined a generation.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Music, Journalism, Biography, History, Pop Culture

Paperback

Published August 21, 2018

Reviews

[Iris Dorbian · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't finish this book and I'm so disappointed because I was really drawn to the subject matter or rather what I thought was going to be the subject matter. Judging from the title, I truly thought this was going to be about a pioneer female journalist's adventures (and misadventures) during the early years of Rolling Stone magazine. Actually, that constitutes a small portion of the book. The rest is devoted to Robin Green's rise and fall and subsequent rise again, this time as a successful TV writer. Actually, that narrative is very interesting and considering, she wrote for one of my all-time favorite TV shows, "The Sopranos," the premise is even more compelling. But...the real problem (and it looks like other fellow readers on Goodreads have zeroed in on this) is Green herself. You know, I don't mind she was a product of the 60s counterculture and all the attitudes and mores that went with it, which include unbridled promiscuity, drug-taking, hedonism, etc. That doesn't bother me because I expect that to be part of the narrative considering the times Green grew up in and the free-wheeling peace and love ethos espoused by Rolling Stone magazine in its early years. What I didn't like was how insufferably elitist, status-obsessed and judgmental Green is. Unless you have money and live in LA or some urban hub like Manhattan, Green has nothing but condescension and contempt for you. You're a loser. Another thing that really irked me was her sexual boasting. Again, I'm no prude and I don't really care she slept around during the 1960s and the "Me" decade. What I don't like is how she insists on listing all of her sexual conquests (which include some married men), replete with explicit details on their appendages, as if we're supposed to be impressed by how many men she snagged in her prime and how hot and alluring she was (I could do without the nonstop references to how everyone thought she had such a great body). And yes, I agree with another reader who brought this up: Why do we need to know how hung college-age Robert Kennedy Jr. was? Why, for what purpose? How does this move the story along? It doesn't. It only serves as raw material for Green to throw out there to show to the reader how desirable she was in her prime. Eat your heart out. Sigh. This book came out recently and I assume Green, who's in her 70s, wrote this not too long ago, which makes me think that despite her age, she still seems very much like a spoiled, narcissistic girl, psychologically frozen in time when it comes to her attitudes and behavior (the boasting, the constant comparisons and the nasty digs at others to prop herself up, is clearly a byproduct of some deeply seated insecurity which she obviously never successfully exorcised via therapy). The real shame of this book is that there really is a good story here--it's just not on these pages.

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book covers a lot of ground and may only scratch the surface of Robin Green’s interesting life. She had/has brains and writing talent and the knack for moving ahead (not re-inventing herself) to meet the changing times. Through a chronology with significant flashbacks and forwards, Robin takes you through not just her life but the changes in the career side of creating popular culture.

How does a young “girl” fresh out of college land a job with Stan Lee? Serendipitously according to Green, and at significant times she seems to be serrendipitously near the next big thing. She later parlayed the weeks-long stint with Lee (a job she walked out on) into an article for “Rolling Stone”.

Green’s Marvel article got the famous Hulk cover and led to free lance assignments with RS. She had expense paid assignments to Dennis Hopper’s ranch, to China to report on Nixon and various concert venues. The descriptions of events show the culture of Rolling Stone, the role of women in it, and how the all male (but for Green) writers jockeyed for space, covers and general position in the magazine. While her name was on the masthead, she could only afford a wreck of a car.

This career ends after a Robert Kennedy Jr. interview that you really have to read to understand. Had Green found the root of the Kennedy mystique? Since she could not (until this book) write about what her experience, Jann Wenner said it was time to part company. She did not have the voice to speak up for herself.

This was a downer, but she has luck, pluck and talent. It takes years but through the University of Iowa Writer’s Workshop, other free lance venues, short term jobs, culinary reviews and Rolling Stone connections, she eventually achieved great success writing TV scripts with her (now) husband (an improbable match from the U of Iowa). Through this chapter of her life, you learn the creative, business and career dimensions of writing for TV. You get a glimpse of how egos and office politics work in this rarified (and well paid) world. I'll be watching “Blue Bloods” with different eyes.

One thing seems to be constant in Green’s life (but for brief interludes). She is sexually active and unabashed about it. How many women can and will publish, as a matter of fact, that they have had hundreds of men? Other personal areas have the same matter of fact treatment such as her relationship with her mother and how she felt during and after significant relationships.

The book ends, with Green in her 70’s with her family, where the story started: Her mother, a classic 1950’s pampered wife with few clues about how the world (or her family) worked and Robin her classic 1960’s influenced daughter who struck out on her own.

Green was at the vortex of the mid-century counter culture and is, today, in the pressure cooker of today’s corporate, big money entertainment. While this is not a great book (and probably not the best of her writing) her insights, sewn throughout the book, are worth the read.

[Janelle Janson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you so much Little, Brown and Company for providing my free copy of THE ONLY GIRL by Robin Green - all opinions are my own.

This is a coming-of-age memoir about Robin Green who had an inside look into Rolling Stone magazine in the early seventies - so of course, I had to read this. Green was the only female writer listed on the masthead in those days, which is quite impressive. Her detailed account is interesting, picaresque, lively, witty, engaging, and irreverent. She’s forthcoming and holds nothing back including her own skeletons and secrets.

This particular book interested me because I’m a longtime fan of Rolling Stone magazine. I used to collect various editions and one of them I still have is the 1972 cover story of David Cassidy where he bares all for the famous photographer Annie Leibovitz. And you guessed it, Robin Green wrote this piece. She spent five days on the road with him and wrote the controversial cover story. Cassidy wanted to shed his innocent image of teen idol as he was devoured by every young girl who idolized him on the Partridge Family. He wanted to shake things up and this piece surely did. A little known fact, when I was a teenager I met David Cassidy once, I have a photo with him, and also saw his Broadway play Blood Brothers. It’s fun to take a trip down memory lane. I’m not saying the memoir is perfectly written but I love Green’s way with words.

[Brianna Westervelt · Rating 4 out of 5]

My only complaint is that she knew too many Davids.

[Tracy Towley · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is like if you're at a party and you start chatting with someone and initially think, "Wow, this is an interesting person, how fortunate I am to meet them!" but then by the time the party is over you've found yourself thinking about shitting your pants just so you have an excuse to excuse yourself from the conversation, except the vapid person you're talking to would just follow you into the bathroom to continue complaining about how unfairly they're always treated, and how everyone is so obsessed with their sexy body, and also give you details about how hung all their past conquests were (except the lady they had sex with, you get to hear about the soft and suppleness of her breasts).

I did not like this book, is what I'm getting at. I'm sure there exists a person more annoying and less self-aware than this author but I have been fortunate enough not to meet them.

[Louise Hulewsky]

Could not finish 🤪

[Keen Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 Stars!

THANKS TO THE LOCAL LIBRARY FOR LETTING ME TAKE THIS BOOK OUT TO GIVE AN HONEST AND UNBIASED REVIEW!

I had never heard of Green before until I listened to her doing an interview on the radio last year promoting this book. From what she says in here she was clearly a talented and successful writer. As well as her fairly short career at “Rolling Stone” she did work for other magazines and would later reinvent herself as a writer for TV contributing to the likes of “Northern Exposure” and more famously “The Sopranos”.

We get to hear about all sorts of shenanigans from the likes of Hunter Thompson, Dennis Hopper and other celebrities who were parading around the self-important circles of the 60s and 70s, though perhaps the most shocking and disgusting behaviour comes from the people who employed her and worked around her. The level of pettiness, neediness and desperation from the damaged people who seem to be drawn to these elite media circles is quite scary. Bosses flouncing around with a childish air of dark moodiness hovering over them, as they huff and puff to get their way, and so many hyper-sensitive egos forever vulnerable to the slightest hint of challenge or threat. It all sounds beyond exhausting to endure on a day to day basis.

As for Green herself, she is certainly not afraid to admit to some of her own shortcomings. The times when she is stalking and door stepping the sons and daughters of the Kennedys in various places makes for cringe worthy reading. It always bothers me when such dubious behaviour is disguised as journalism. If that is ‘just doing your job’ then you are probably in the wrong one. She sleeps with one of the Kennedys on his water bed. We know this because she tells us at least three times.

Perhaps the biggest flaw with this book was in the structure, she keeps jumping back and forth, at first it’s annoying, by the third or fourth time, it’s actually a bit maddening and you really do lose the thread. I thought that it was a really poor author/editorial decision that really puts a dent in this book. I have no idea what they were thinking?...It really disrupts the flow and destroys the momentum, so you find yourself thinking, Wait a minute I thought we had done this bit?...Why are we back here again?...This technique means that we get a lot of the same details told again and again, she feels the need to tell us about her pubic lice on at least three occasions, the same with attending and teaching at Iowa Writers’ Workshop.

This autobiography was enjoyable in many places, but repetitive and mediocre in many others. Even though the “Rolling Stone” angle is clearly emphasized in the title, I would say that less than half of the book is dedicated to that period. There appears to be a far greater importance placed on her sexual promiscuity, and promiscuity as feminism, rather than the quality of her journalistic pieces, which I found disappointing.

[Marika · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robin Green was the ONLY woman writer listed on the masthead of Rolling Stone Magazine in the early 70's. Let that sink in. Robin has written a witty, irreverent memoir of that crazy time in American history when women were just beginning to crack the glass ceiling. She holds nothing back, not even her own skeletons. 'The Only Girl: My Life and Times on the Masthead of Rolling Stone' is a study in cultural movements and how far women have come. Peace out.

I read an advance copy and was not compensated.

[BarbC]

This book was so bad. The only reason I kept reading was because all the names in it of famous people. But soooo poorly written and what a gigantic ego she has. Calling herself beautiful...she whored around— an embarrassment to hard working young women everywhere. She got fired from every writing job she had, and blamed it on everyone else. This is who Holden Caulfield was referring to when he called his writer/brother a “prostitute.” Ugh.

[Melody · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had never heard of Robin Green, or, to be more accurate, I'd forgotten her byline from back in the Rolling Stone heyday. I was a fan of the mag back then, so picked this up. I found the overall tone distasteful. Green seems to have that Hollywood/New Yorker distaste for anything not appertaining to those two places. Her arch tone grates, as does her entitlement.

[cellomerl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Totally right on. What a fun person. I was surprised at how little of this book is about Rolling Stone magazine. The author only worked there for about three years but made a big splash while she did. I enjoyed the first half of the book more than the second, but only because the 2nd half is all about TV writing on shows like the Sopranos and Northern Exposure, both of which I remember everyone talking about but neither of which I’ve ever watched.
The most interesting things about this book are its time-and-place, describing a life spent bouncing between New York and California, the sexual exploits (some of which are hilarious), the no-punches-pulled indiscretion, some very honest storytelling about relationships and loss, and lots of very detailed insider information on an industry that’s outside my ken. Musicians and actors seem to get all the attention in this world but it’s the people who create the artistic content who probably have the most interesting stories.
This was an audiobook, read by the author, which probably made it even better. Maybe the only thing possibly better would have been an illustrated edition. 😁

[Ashleigh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Perhaps it’s the fact I’m not familiar with her journalistic work - but I found the book pretty insufferable.
The tone was tight and abrasive, and sensitive topics were handled with a brash irony that seemed to distance the text from any real feeling. Plus, the name dropping at every moment became disorienting. It was a dizzying array of people labelled, who didn’t really affix any meaning to the memoir. They were just there.
Perhaps I wanted something a little more romantic, and that simply wasn’t her style? I don’t know. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone else, but I’m glad I finished it.

[Yvonne · Rating 2 out of 5]

You can read my review of this book in an upcoming issue of Publisher's Weekly.

[India · Rating 2 out of 5]

god this was lame

[Don Gorman · Rating 4 out of 5]

(4). I heard about this book in one of my blogs (kudos to you, Bob Lefsetz) and it is a hidden gem.
What a story this woman has to tell, what a life she has lived. Ups and downs, sex and rock and roll (not too much drugs), an incredible life. I had never heard of her, and yet she was a writer, or THE writer (along with her husband), on 3 of my most favorite TV shows (Northern Exposure, the Sopranos and Blue Bloods). It helps that we are almost the same age, so the experiences of the 60’s are bright and shiny to both of us, and that I was a music and media guy at those times as well. Everyone’s family is dysfunctional, and we get plenty of that here, and mental health is a part of this story too. I just thought it was fascinating and really well written, by a very brave woman not afraid to expose herself in all ways. Good stuff.

[Rhonda · Rating 2 out of 5]

The editor seemed to be missing here because the story was all over the place, both timeline and plot. The content betrays the subtitle of the book; I'd estimate less than half is about her times at the Rolling Stone. The rest was a lot of sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll; and her time as a t.v. writer, primarily on The Sopranos. She really seemed to want us to know that she attended the Iowa Writer's Workshop because it is mentioned repeatedly before and after her residency, but her admission story and time in attendance seemed to tarnish the prestige of the institution. 🤷‍♀️

[patty · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entertaining kiss-and-tell romp through the author's life, with the Rolling Stone angle covering about two-thirds of the book, then moving on to the author's successes in both network and cable television shows, and on a personal note - love.

I was quite bothered by this mistake though:

"At the time, HBO broadcast boxing on Saturday nights and had ventured slightly into original content with quirky shows like Dream On and the wonderfully sly It's the Garry Shandling Show, a send-up of late-night talk shows and TV egos." (page 235)

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

It's Garry Shandling's Show initially broadcast on Showtime from 1986-1990. I believe the author meant to reference The Larry Sanders Show.

With all due respect to the genius of Garry Shandling - the breaker of the fourth wall - how could you? Is this a passive-aggressive dig against him?

2.5 Stars

[CJM · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read it so you don’t have to

The author has seen a lot and accomplished a great deal, so I suppose she’s entitled to feel good about herself. A modicum of humility, however, would have transformed this memoir from insufferable to … boring. As a bonus, her timelines are periodically fragmented if not distorted, and she gets dates wrong in order (it seems) to further enhance her image and personal narrative. For example, the TV series A Year In The Life, which Green worked on, did not beat The Winds Of War for Outstanding Limited Series in 1987, because the latter aired in 1981. And did the author really see “Charlies Mingus and Parker” at Jazz clubs in Chicago? Allowing for Mingus, Charlie Parker died in 1955, when Green was, uh, nine or maybe ten years old. Where was her editor? The only reason I got through this one is my neurotic need to finish what I start. Please don’t waste your time as I did.

[Karen · Rating 1 out of 5]

The title and description of this book should be changed. This is NOT about her times with Rolling Stone, except at the very beginning. This SHOULD have been a fantastic book, given the years she worked there.

Life is too short for crap books. I gave this book a few hours of my life that I won't get back. Don't waste your time. This is NOT the book you expect it to be. What a shame!

[Kylie Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

dnf
just because i was moving and this was due at the library lolol but i wasn't too attached anyway - reads like a diary/series of essays and i enjoyed spending time with her life stories as passive reading.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this look at the life of a trail blazing woman.
It’s brutally honest. All her emotions and insecurities are in there. Things I don’t even like to think about emotionally she’s written for us all to read. It’s a brave telling of her story and all the better for it.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

A difficult book to characterize. Green is a good writer who definitely needs an editor. Did I need to hear how she needs to smoke weed to have good sex or go on about her relationship with her mother? Probably not. The heart of the book is her interactions with others like Hunter S. Thompson at *Rolling Stone* or her flirtatious yet vexed relationship with David Chase, creator of *The Sopranos*. At its worst moments, the books descends into boomer nostalgia, a 60's holier than though-- "how lucky we were to be alive then," "how the music was the greatest," etc. Such statements reveal more about the writer cordoning herself off from new times and experiences than anything about the past. It is nauseating, particularly attached with her repeated mentions of having two houses on both coasts, etc. Ultimately, Green isn't that very engaging on her own. She floats around with the times and intersects with interesting personalities, but, ultimately, her story is about a wild youth wading into the lukewarm waters of the creative middle-class. Good for her. Not a pleasure to read about.

More interesting is the way she highlights the importance of the various women working at Rolling Stone during the early 1970s and how they had to navigate a testosterone-fueled workplace. Even more unexpected and interesting was her interactions with David Chase. The book provides some important counterpoints to the general hyperbole that surrounds *The Sopranos*, a show I nonetheless feel deeply connected to as well. But she shines a light on the neuroses of Chase and how they manifest in unfortunate ways during his day-to-day working relationships. Not that Green seems a walk in the park. I am sure she brought her own issues to her workplace, which are conveniently omitted in the book.

The book is okay. It made me want to read some of Green's earlier writing. But it is a bit of a drag following a relatively dull and self-satisfied person who perhaps most accurately summarizes the book at the end basically saying, "well, you had to be there to understand." Sure. But I wish the book did a better job of doing that.

[Leza · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m English and a huge music fan and relevantly; female. I worked for small record labels, PR etc in the 90s meeting plenty of music journalists. A lot of them had bigger egos than the rock stars they were scrambling to get interviews with. But among them, a minority were genuine and humble and brilliant (Alexis Petredis/Tom Cox/David Fricke). I felt mislead in to thinking I’d be getting a comprehensive inside view to Rolling Stone magazine and some fascinating and hilarious insights into one of the greatest times in music...as proffered by the author herself. This period of her life takes up a quarter of the book if that. There is no doubt that she’s an interesting character but the story line is badly edited; time frames jump back and forth and are endlessly repetitive. I don’t deny that she is a talented writer because The Sopranos was sublimely ground breaking television. I watched a couple of episodes of Bluebloods and gave up, I found it terrible mainly because it hinges on Tom Sellick’s huge ego. The make up department also went to town on his character, I couldn’t get past how much he wears which visually jars with any reality trying to break through the script. She could have had a better editor for this book, expanded more on time working at Rolling Stone and this would have been a far better read; for me at least.

[Sarah Eutsler · Rating 3 out of 5]

I admit I didn’t finish it. I wanted a cool inside look at Rolling Stone and a woman forging a path as a journalist at a time when men ruled the roost. Instead it was a meandering through her life that made it difficult to stay engaged or piece together a solid timeline of a story. A few anecdotes were interesting, but it just wasn’t for me.

[Kimberly · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am not sure why this is labeled as "My life and times on the masthead of rolling stone". Aside from outlining a few people she worked with and a few casual mentions of a couple story subjects you get a couple of weak stories and repeated mentions of a married superior that she screwed. Actually, this book should have been titled "me mentioning all the men I slept with on a completely uninteresting manor dotted with other random and boring (and repetitive) stories. I can't believe a professional writer with the career she had turned this out. So much more interesting things I'm sure could have been written about than what seemed to be an active but boring sex life. It took me two weeks to get through 288 pages. I don't know why I kept trudging through, but I did....

[katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stuff I liked: Reading a bit about Rolling Stone's early days, that she has written for some of my favorite TV shows (Northern Exposure, Sopranos). And she is unrelentingly honest, willing to reveal some very unflattering things about herself. I doubt doubt anything she says in the book as a result.

She's clearly a talent.

And yet.... The title felt like a bait and switch. I wanted to read more about her job, how she made it as a woman and journalist, etc. It's more of a kiss-and-tell and the narrative wanders....

I snagged this at the library and finished it in a few days so it obviously caught my attention, but it left me wanting more. A good edit might have made it better.

[Lucy Lauda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've waited 150+ pages to write this review... and I really want to be honest and admit that a part of me it's sure I'm biased against it, cause truth be told, more than not liking the book, there are some aspects of the author I simply can't relate to.

There's this snobbish/emo part inside of me that maybe out of genuine lack of alignment or even a slight sense of envy, directly rejects the notion of living life like a 70's rockstar, the promiscuity, drugs, lack of accountability and lack of care for anything outside one self.

Yet there's this other part of that simply feels like I really wish I read something else, while I do not feel completely "cheated" or "scammed", since it's not unreadable, this book isn't about an artist.

This is the type of writer Charlie Kaufman writes about, in a story about a life of a writer, it's surprising how little writing seems to impact or be reflected outside of the merits and life it managed to bring her.
My dad loves the quote about how ordinary people only discuss about people, and it kept popping up in my head while reading, this fr. seems like an American Psycho chapter making a parody of itself, it's just names after names, people, institutions, places that are meant to mean something to me, it may be generational but it simply doesn't add to the experience of reading it.

My frustrations come from the lack of emotion and artistry, this could've been about the marketer of Rolling Stone, or the Finance person at sopranos and it wouldn't make a difference, since they rarely play a role outside of situational anecdotes that may be interesting to people who care about either this entities, but they're so few and far between that in my opinion, wouldn't make the read worth it anyway.

I'm sure Robin can write, but not because of the quality of this book, rather because of the achievements and places she managed to get herself into, but this writing isn't shown in the book since it doesn't seem to use the medium for expression, rather more of a contractor that learned the A B C of how to deliver what the clients want, and this book is just a self admitted ploy to get attention.

I could even appreciate the vulnerability and peak into someone's life, but that's not a sacrifice, it's just a selfish act of wanting to get the spotlight on one's life, this book doesn't explore outside of the image and relatively surface stories, ultimately we're all human and nobody is that interesting.

But after reading this book, I wish it was Ronnie's autobiography.

It was an interesting read, but a documentary or Wikipedia page would've done better at taking me down the trip of other times, Many novels by women can present a more complete argument on women's sexuality, psyche and societal life events, and I hope that many books I read in the future lead me to be more inspired to make art.

[Jen C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Coming of age in the period of beats, hippies, and free love, Robin Green went from waitress to free-lance journalist for Rolling Stone virtually overnight. After using an old college connection to secure a meeting, Robin nails the interview. Her first story goes immediately to the cover which leads to her eventually rise as the first female on the masthead of Rolling Stone. You may recognize her name as a writer on the Sopranos and Blue Bloods.

Green weaves her story through vignettes from her life and shares with the reader some of her most poignant memories. It is as much a tale of her career trajectory as it is as of self-discovery and of finding her way through love and relationships.

The Only Girl is an extremely vulnerable memoir. Robin shares so much with the reader that you cannot help but love her and feel an automatic connection. Sometimes I even thought she shared a bit too much (TMI Robin). What I particularly enjoyed about her story is how relatable it is. She is honest in her setbacks and acknowledges that her trajectory was not always linear. She faces various setbacks, but continues to discover new paths forward. Her imperfection and struggle is part of what makes her so relatable and, at times, lovable.

This is a quick and easy autobiography. The stories are quite tantalizing which made the chapters zoom by despite occasional writing flaws. The narrative is not always chronological, it jumps around and is somewhat repetitive. Green also employed lots of details, which made some sentences long and tangled. Indeed, one sentence had no less than 142 words and 16 punctuation marks. Regardless, if you were ever a fan of the magazine or the countercultural age, it is definitely worth the read!

[isabel pellegrino · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not a huge memoir fan, always feel like the author is trying to teach me a lesson. Not here. Robin Green is simply telling the story of her life, her experience - as she writes, “it’s important now for me to make myself known.” And I did feel like I could see her clearly, was grateful to be invited into this frank, honest portrayal of her experiences as a writer at Rolling Stone and an exec producer on The Sopranos (among other things) but in my opinion, what she did so well, was take the reader through the various moments and identities of her life - as a daughter, a friend, a wife, a lover - and illustrate how disjointed, but also connected, they were. Though she was not giving direction on how a life should be lived, each page made me enthralled and enthusiastic about what life could be. And jealous that a young age, I’m not sure how possible it is to pursue a life like hers, the one that she forged in her early 20s - this underground sort of chaotic but purposeful career at magazines, shows and more. Surely I want to run from my corporate job now, but also am reminded from Robin that you can never know what’s in store and there will be plenty highs and lows and they all come together somehow, sometimes at least. With Joan Didion as one of her describe heroes, and mine as well, I could feel the legend’s influence - particularly in her famous line “we tell ourselves stories to live...” I’m happy robin told hers and I encourage other readers, especially young women, to read this great book - and see what feelings it elicits toward their own “little lives,” as Robin writes with a sharp, humorous beauty.

[Donna Milward · Rating 3 out of 5]

My husband gave me this book as a gift because he knows how much I love biographies, especially rock n' roll biographies.

From the very first page, the author gripped me with her obvious writing talent. Even though this is non-fiction, she creates fantastic atmosphere with just the right amount of detail, not to mention great foreshadowing. It's obvious why Rolling Stone wanted her and why she continues to get work. I learned a lot about writing from just reading this.

Robin Green isn't shy about her job, her sex life, or her mistakes. There were times in this book where I thought she was the coolest chick ever, and there were times were I thought she was crossing the line and being a jerk. Still, I appreciate her honesty. I hate it when people write a memoir, then chicken out on revealing the true story. Robin Green isn't afraid.

I think I would have liked it better if I knew who she was. Or maybe I'd like it more if I were American. Or a fan of Rolling Stone or the Sopranos. For me this book started to lag a bit just as soon as she lost her job with Rolling Stone. She was honest about how it happened, but I wish there had been more detail. I feel this is a source of regret and pain for her, because it reads as though it was hard to write.

The book drags for a bit after that, but it does pick back up again, and stays pretty steady until the end. I'd happily read more from Robin Green. I think this is a decent book, but not a favorite.